


Tangled Up In You

by historyziam



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Amusement Parks, Fear, Fluff and Humor, Halloween, Haunted Houses, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:49:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27312169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/historyziam/pseuds/historyziam
Summary: Zayn accidentally holds onto a stranger’s shirt in a haunted house-- and doesn’t realise it until it ends.
Relationships: Zayn Malik/Liam Payne
Comments: 5
Kudos: 73





	Tangled Up In You

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween! Here’s a random drabble I came up with, I hope you like it :)

Zayn’s not a wuss. He really isn’t.

It’s just that if you’d asked him if he’d prefer being at home in his pyjamas, under a thick blanket and watching a classic Halloween film to walking through an actual, _physical_ haunted house, his decision would be a no-brainer.

Thanks to his best mate Louis’ incessant urging (or rather, forcing), however, he’s found himself at his hometown’s theme park scarefest with some of their other mates from school.

He wouldn’t mind it as much, if he hadn’t had to spend a good portion of the night standing in the cold, waiting in line after line, to enter the houses.

“Queue’s mad, lads,” Niall quips for possibly the hundredth time as they join the line to the biggest, and naturally the most popular, haunted house in the park that they’ve saved for last.

“Fuckin’ hell,” Harry responds. “Look at the state of that.”

“The bloody queues have been scarier than the houses themselves, to be honest,” Louis adds, which earns a chorus of laughter from the rest of them.

“This is supposed to be the main one, yeah?” Zayn asks, combing through the event brochure that lists the houses and their themes.

“Yep,” Niall replies, peering at the same brochure over his shoulder. “Zombies or some shit.”

It can’t be that bad, Zayn decides. It must be tamer than what they’ve already gone through, even though admittedly, he’d alternated between keeping his head down and eyes closed for a lot of the time spent in the other houses, despite the screams that left his mouth.

They’re _performative_ , okay? Sue him.

In the times he’d allowed himself to fully experience the houses, he’d realised that the jump scares by the scare actors were more shocking than scary, but the combination of the sound effects and realistic makeup made it extra eerie.

Zayn finds himself at the back of the group when they finally enter the zombie house about an hour later, which isn’t ideal, but he’s not about to push himself to the front when the path in it is narrow and only barely lit.

Besides, he’s _not_ a wuss.

He lets out a yell when a zombie suddenly sticks his head out of a wall, right beside his head, and groans in his ear. The adrenaline causes him to let out a delirious laugh at his own surprise and how ridiculous his reaction had been.

Okay, that wasn’t so bad, he thinks. He might actually enjoy this house.

Zayn takes his words back almost right away when the dim lights in the house go off, leaving everyone in pitch black darkness.

He picks up on a few scattered screams, and expects the lights to come back on as they keep moving into the next few rooms, but nothing seems to be happening, and not being able to see around him has fear settling in his bones.

“Louis!” Zayn calls out. “Louis, where are you?”

“I’m here!” Louis responds. His voice sounds so close yet so far away from him at the same time, and he flails his arms around in the darkness trying to find something to hold onto.

He lets out a breath of relief when he touches Louis’ back, making sure to keep a vice-like grip on his shirt so that he doesn’t lose the other man again.

He’s screaming his head off, letting out every expletive imaginable while the walkway never seems to end. He keeps his eyes squeezed shut while gripping onto Louis’ shirt for dear life.

This is not fun. Not fun at _all_.

The creaking sound of a door swinging open almost makes Zayn cry, as they’re led out backstage to fresh air and _light_.

Sweet, beautiful light.

“Thank fuck that’s over,” Zayn mumbles while letting go of the white fabric, blinking several times as his vision adjusts to the brightness.

“Zayn!” he hears someone call out. He whips his head to see Louis, Harry and Niall standing some distance away from him.

Wait.

If _that_ ’s Louis then who--

The person whose white shirt Zayn was holding turns around and smiles at him, while simultaneously looking like he’s on the verge of laughter. _Oh no_.

When Zayn realises the bloke is wearing almost the exact same outfit as Louis, he _really_ wants the ground to swallow him whole.

He’s already mortified, but what’s worse, is that the stranger is undoubtedly attractive, with warm brown eyes and a kind smile, and Zayn had managed to make an absolute fool of himself in front of him.

Figures.

“I’m sorry about the-- uh, I-- I thought you were my friend over there,” he blurts.

“All good, mate,” the man assures.

Zayn sticks his hands in his pockets. “You should’ve said something, in the house--”

“You were in enough of a panic,” he cuts in with a shrug. “Least I could do was get you out safe.”

Zayn searches the man’s expression for signs that would indicate he’s taking the piss out of him, but the man seems genuine about his response, which makes warmth course through him.

He returns the smile, albeit a sheepish one as he’s sure the back of the poor soul’s shirt is completely crumpled because of him. “Thank you.”

“I better go, my mates are waiting,” the stranger says after a short pause, gesturing behind him.

“Oh,” Zayn gets out, turning his gaze in said direction to see two men talking amongst themselves. “Yeah. Okay.”

“Have a good one.”

Something settles heavily in his stomach as the man walks away. He can’t tell if it’s dissatisfaction or disappointment, perhaps even both, but he chooses not to harp on it too much.

Zayn was freaking out. The stranger was being polite.

That’s all it was.

Except...

“What was that about?” Harry asks as Zayn approaches them.

Zayn reaches out to scratch the back of his neck. “Uh, I thought he was Louis.”

“Man has _impeccable_ fashion sense,” Louis jokes, which earns an eye roll from Zayn.

Niall turns his head toward the exit of the house. “Seems like there was an issue with the lights at that last bit.”

“Alright, fuck it, enough haunted houses, let’s get on some rides!” Harry exclaims with both arms raised, coupled with a maniacal expression. It brings a fond grin to Zayn’s face.

Zayn actually does have considerably more fun going on the regular rides in the park. The queues dwindle closer to the park’s closing time, and they take advantage of the lack of crowds by going on the same rides multiple times.

He finds himself looking out for the man from earlier, but he never sees him. He wonders what it means that he’s still feeling some sort of loss by letting him walk away.

By the time they’re making their way out of the park, he’s exhausted. He has his gaze lowered, deep in thought about how he can’t wait to pass out on his bed and forget the world.

“Hi.”

Zayn raises his head at the sound of the voice. His heart skips a beat when his gaze lands on the stranger from earlier that had flooded his thoughts all night.

He’s alone now and standing right in front of Zayn, the same earnest smile plastered on his face.

Zayn glances at his companions, who give him knowing looks and walk off, allowing them some space. He’s grateful that they can read him so well.

“Hi,” Zayn repeats.

The man shifts from one foot to another as if uncomfortable. “So, um, I have something to say and hope this isn’t too weird.”

Zayn raises an eyebrow. “Okay.”

“I, uh, I have this feeling in my gut about you. It’s telling me I didn’t say things that I should have, just now? I know we don’t know each other, but I want to. Know you. I just-- I don’t want to regret not trying. Anyway, I’m blabbing. My point is, can I have your number?”

Zayn lets out a laugh in disbelief. _Is this real life_?

“Of course,” Zayn utters. “It’s mad, I kept, uh, looking out for you in the park. How did you know I hadn’t already left?”

The man beams, his entire face lighting up.

“You did? That’s, um, good to know. And I didn’t. I was just hoping you hadn’t,” he continues, handing his phone over to Zayn.

“It’d be nice to have a second chance,” Zayn admits as he’s typing his digits in. “What you heard in the house wasn’t exactly glamorous.”

He laughs. “Let’s just start over, then. I’m Liam.”

“Zayn.”

“Okay, Zayn, what do you say about going on a date with me?”

“Yeah. I’d like that.”

Maybe Zayn _can_ admit that he’s a wuss when it comes to haunted houses. But hey, at least he got a date out of it.


End file.
